Slide-in cabinet door



B. B. NYQUIST SLIDE-IN CABINET DOOR July 22, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 11, 1967 INVENTOR BERNARD B. NYQUIST,

BY I IS ATTORNEY.

July 22, 1969 3,456,995

8. B. NYQUIST SLIDE-IN CABINET DOOR Filed April 11, 196'? 2 Sheets-Sheet :2

lil/ INVENTOR: BERNARD B. NYQUIST BY HISATTORNE United States Patent 3,456,995 SLIDE-IN CABINET DOOR Bernard B. Nyquist, Rockford, Ill., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 629,962 Int. Cl. A47b 88/00; E06b US. Cl. 312322 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus which allows planar cabinet doors to be completely recessed into the interior of a cabinet by sequential pivotal and sliding movement. A rod is positioned along the pivotal edge of each door such that ends of the rod extend into slots extending from the front to the rear of the cabinet to allow the pivotal movement. Each door is slid into the cabinet interior on a strip of low friction material. A pivoting link support mechanism provides stability to each door as it is slid completely into the interior of the cabinet.

Background of the invention It is often desirable to have doors on a cabinet which can be stored so as to completely expose the front of the cabinet. Particularly, it is useful to have doors for a television cabinet such that when the television is not in use, the television screen is completely hidden so as to present a more pleasing furniture cabinet design; and also to have the television screen completely uncovered by the doors when the television set is to be used. Three basic types of mechanisms have been used to solve this problemthey are hinged, tambour, and slide-in doors. The basic drawback to the standard hinged design, which requires that each door pivot 270 so that the doors when opened are stored adjacent the exterior of the cabinet sides, is that too much floor space is required. Of even more obvious disadvantages is another hinged design wherein the doors are not able to swing a full 270 and hence stick out from the cabinet. Tambour design doors limit the door design to one incorporating narrow vertical strips and are quite expensive. Slide-in doors, wherein the doors pivot and then are slid into the interior of the cabinet adjacent the side walls, may also be used. However, presently used hardware for slide-in doors is expensive, difficult to install and adjust, does not stabilize the door adequately when it is sliding, and frequently does not permit the door to be recessed completely in a standard depth cabinet. The latter disadvantage has become particularly acute due to the development of relatively thin black-and-white and color picture tubes which permit quite shallow television chassis.

Summary of the invention Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a slide-in type cabinet door mechanism which is inexpensive, simple, and easy to install and adjust.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a slide-in door arrangement which will adequately stabilize the door as it is sliding into the cabinet.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a slide-in type door mechanism wherein the door can be completely recessed into a standard depth television cabinet.

The subject invention accomplishes the above stated objects by providing a rod which is rigidly afiixed adjacent an edge of each door and extends a short distance above and below the edge of the door. Parallel depthwise extending slots in the cabinet are provided so that the ends of the rods may be engaged therein. A piece of low friction material is provided adjacent an edge of each door so that the door can slide thereon. A scissors type link Patented July 22, 1969 support structure is pivotally attached at one end to each rod and is attached at the other end at the rear of the cabinet. One of the two support structure attachments to the rod is able to slide along the length of the rod. The door may therefore pivot about the ends of the rod in the slot and may be slid on the low friction material with the support structure stabilizing the door, so that the door can be completely recessed into the cabinet.

The specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which I regard as my invention.

Brief description of the drawings My invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a TV cabinet embodying the subject invention wherein one door has been pivoted open;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a TV cabinet embodying the subject invention wherein both doors have been recessed within the interior of the cabinet;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of one of the doors embodying the subject invention;

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view of the cabinet shown in FIGURE 1 taken along the line denoted A-A;

FIGURE 5 is a partial sectional view of the cabinet shown in FIGURE 1 taken along the line denoted B-B;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the cabinet shown in FIGURE 2 taken along the line denoted C-C;

FIGURE 7 is a partial sectional view of the door shown in FIGURE 5 taken along the line denoted DD;

FIGURE 8 is a partial sectional view of the door shown in FIGURE 5 taken along the line denoted EE;

FIGURE 9 is a partial sectional view of the door shown in FIGURE 5 taken along the line denoted FF; and

FIGURE 10 is a partial sectional view of the door shown in'FIGURE 5 taken along the line denoted GG.

Description of the preferred embodiment In FIGURE 1 a television cabinet 10 having slide-in doors 12a, 12b is shown. The cabinet 10 has side walls 14, 16, a top wall 18, a bottom wall 20, and four legs 22. Housed within the cabinet 10 is a television chassis 24. The doors 12 are each able to be pivoted about their respective side pivotal edges approximately so that the door is substantially parallel to one of the side walls of the cabinet. A handle 26 may be located on the exterior of the door so that each door can be easily pivoted from its closed position. The handle 26 may either be recessed, hinged or merely protrude a short distance from the face of the door so that when it is recessed into the cabinet the handle will not abut the side wall. A groove 28 may also be provided on the interior side of each door adjacent the outer edge so that the door can be easily grasped from its fully recessed position when it is desired to be withdrawn from the cabinet.

In FIGURE 2 the cabinet is shown with the doors 12a, 12b completely recessed therein. To open the front face of the cabinet the doors 12a, 12b are pivoted until they are substantially parallel with the side walls 14, 16 of the cabinet. The doors 12a, 12b are then slid into the cabinet until they are fully recessed therein.

In FIGURE 3 a perspective view of one of the doors 12a is shown. Front and side views of the door 12a are displayed in FIGURES 4 and 5, respectively. Therefore, description of the hinge mechanism should be referenced to all three views as shown in FIGURES 3-5.

The door 12a has along its interior side 30 the recessed finger groove 28 adjacent to the front (outer) edge. Op-

posite the front edge is a pivotal edge 32 which is the rearward-most edge of the door 12a as it is being slid into the cabinet 10. As can also be seen in FIGURES 7, 8, 9 and 10 which are top cross sectional views of the door 12a, a substantially rectangular groove 34 in the interior side 30 of the door extends the entire height of the door and is spaced a short distance from the pivotal edge 32. An. elongated metal rod 36 of substantially circular cross section is disposed within the groove 34 and has extension portions a short distance above and below the door.

The rod 36 is positioned within the groove 34 and is attached to the door 12a by means of a plurality of ferrules 38, the cross section of which is shown in FIGURE 7. The ferrules 38 have a substantially cylindrical portion 38a which is disposed about the rod 36 and preferably is rigidly attached thereto. A substantially rectangular portion 38b of the ferrule 38 is integrally connected to the exterior of the cylindrical portion and is disposed adjacent to an interior surface 39 of the door which is set in slightly from the major interior side 30. The ferrules 38 are rigidly attached to the door by means such as screws 40. The ferrules 38 may alternatively freely rotate on the rod, however, the stability of the door, especially when it is pivoting, is increased if the ferrules 38 are rigidly connected to the rod.

The pivotal ferrules 42, 44 of basically similar shape to the first mentioned ferrules 38 are also disposed about the rod 36 The pivotal ferrules 42, 44, whose cross sections are shown in FIGURES 9 and 10, respectaively, are able to freely rotate about the rod 36. The pivotal ferrules 42, 44, however, are not attached to the door 12a, but rather are pivotally connected to links of a supporting mechanism, which will be explained in greater detail in succeeding paragraphs. Due to the configuration of the support mechanism, the lower pivoting ferrule 44 will always be positioned against the top of the stationary ferrule 38. However, the upper pivotal ferrule 42 is able to translate along the length of the rod a distance determined by the configuration of the links. To permit such free translation, a portion of the door about the pivotal edge 32 is grooved so as to form a recessed portion 46 whose cross section is shown in FIGURES 8 and 9. Also, a cut away portion 48, as shown in FIGURE 10, is provided adjacent the lower pivotal ferrule 44 so as to permit pivotal movement of the link thereon.

In FIGURE 4 a cross sectional view of the cabinet shown in FIGURE 1 taken along line A-A is shown. Although only one side of the cabinet is shown in FIGURE 4, the other side is of similar construction. In this view, it can be seen that depthwise extending grooves 50 are located in both the interior of the top'wall 18 and the interior of the bottom wall 20. It is obvious that the grooves 50 may be cut into separate pieces which form part of the top and bottom walls 18, 20 and are rigidly attached to the panels forming the top and bottom walls 18, 20.

The grooves 50 are substantially parallel to one another and are dimensioned so as to allow the rod 36 to freely slide or pivot therein. To help provide stability and ease of sliding for the door, a piece of material 54 having a low co-efficient of friction is attached to the bottom wall 20 adjacent the groove 50 wherein so as to be disposed between the bottom edge of the door 12a and the bottom wall 20. In this manner, the door 12A is at least partially supported by the low friction material 54 as it slides into or out of the interior of the cabinet. The use of such material 54 also permits the ends of the rod 46 to be substantially freely movable in the groove 50 so as to permit ease of sliding of the door. The rod ends in the grooves serve to help stabilize and guide the doors, but are not necessarily used for support. Therefore, during the sliding of the door it is not necessary for the end of the rod to touch the bottom of the groove.

FIGURES and 6 show the door sliding mechanism just after the door has been pivoted open and when the door has been completely recessed, respectively. FIGURE 5 is a partial cross sectional view along line B--B in FIG- ure 1 and FIGURE 6 is a cross sectional view along line C-C in FIGURE 2. A supporting linkage assembly 56 is comprised of a plurality of links 58, 60, 62, 64. The links are connected in a cris-cross fashion with pins 66 at all intersections of the links and at the connecting ends so as to permit relative pivotal movement of the links. The frontmost links 58, 60 are pivotally connected to the pivoting ferrules 42, 44, respectively, and are pivotally connected to one another substantially at their midpoints. The lower front link 6t) is connected at its rearward end to the rearward link 64, and the upper front link 58 is connected at its rearward end to a short link 62 which is in turn connected to the rearward link 64 substantially at its midpoint. The rearward link 64 is pivotally connected to a plate 68 which is attached via an extension block 70 which is in turn attached to a vertical post 72 of the cabinet.

As the door 12a is slid into the cabinet the links collapse in a scissors-like manner with the lower pivotal ferrule 44 remaining stationary with respect to the rod as it presses against the upper surface of the fixed ferrule 38, and the upper pivotal ferrule 42 translating vertically up the rod 46 as can be seen from a comparison of FIGURES 5 and 6. Due to the scissors-type action of the links, the link assembly occupies very little space when it is collapsed. This allows a door having a length almost the same as the cabinet depth to be completely recessed within the cabinet.

The details of the ferrule and rod mechanism can best be seen by reference to FIGURES 7-10 which respectively show partial cross sections taken along line DD, E-E, F-F, and GG in FIGURE 5, respectively.

In FIGURE 7 it can be seen that the fixed ferrule 38 positions the rod 36 within the groove 34 and the planar portion 38b of the ferrule 38 is positioned flush against a portion of the door so that it may be connected thereto by means such as screws.

FIGURE 8 is used to show the cut away portion 46 in the pivotal edge 32 of the door which allows the pivotal ferrule 42 to translate along the length of the rod 36.

In FIGURE 9 details of the upper pivotal ferrule 42 are shown wherein it can be seen that the link 58 is pivotally connected to the ferrule 42 by means of a pin 66 which allows pivotal rotation therebetween. It is easily seen that there is adequate clearance between the head of the pin 66 and the door 12a due to the recessed portion 46.

In FIGURE 10 details of the lower pivotal ferrule 44 are shown wherein it can be seen that the cut away portion 48 is located between the groove 34 and the pivotal edge 32 in the immediate vicinity of the ferrule 44. This cut away portion 48 allows clearance of the pin 66 which connects and allows pivotal movement between the ferrule 44 and the link 60.

In operation, with the doors 12a, 12b initially in the closed position, the doors are first pivoted open to a position substantially parallel to the side walls 14, 16 of the cabinet. The doors are each pivoted about the rod ends 36 in the forward-most portions of the grooves 50. The doors may then be pushed rearwardly until they are completely recessed within the cabinet. During this operation, each door is slid on the low friction material 54 attached to the bottom of the cabinet and is guided rearwardly by means of rod ends 36 acting within the grooves 50. During this operation, the doors are stabilized so as to remain substantially vertical by means of the stabilizing linkage assembly 56 as well as by the contact of the doors on the low friction material 54 and the rod ends 36 within the grooves 50.

Thus, the subject invention provides a slide-in type door mechanism wherein the door is easily pivoted and slid into the cabinet so as to be completely recessed thereby. The mechanism which accomplished this is comprised of vertically extending rods attached to the door which is able to pivot and slide in grooves in the cabinet, a low friction strip on which the door slides, and a link stabilizing assembly. This mechanism is relatively inexpensive and is simple and economical to install and adjust within a cabinet.

It is fully contemplated that the subject invention can be applied to a slide-in door arrangement wherein a door or doors may be recessed adjacent the top and/ or bottom walls of a cabinet as well as the side wall slide-in doors particularly shown in the subject docket. Such a use would require only minor modification of the mechanism particularly shown. The most substantial modification necessary would be to provide a horizontal lip on both sides of the top wall extending the depth of the cabinet and having pieces of low friction material mounted thereon. Therefore, after the door was pivoted upward so as to be parallel to the top wall, a portion of the interior surface of the door would contact the low friction material so as to be easily slideable thereupon as the door becomes recessed adjacent the interior surface of the top wall.

Another important feature of the subject invention is that the link stabilizing apparatus or mechanism is quite compact thereby allowing a door having its length substantially the same as the depth of the cabinet to be fully recessed within the cabinet.

It is obvious that many modifications may be made to the mechanism without departing from the true scope of the subject invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a cabinet including a plurality of wall, a plurality of parallel slots extending depthwise inside said cabinet, anda plurality of substantially planar doors including a pivotal edge, the improvement comprising:

(a) pivoting-and-sliding mechanisms disposed within said cabinet and attached to each of said doors, each including an elongated rod disposed adjacent said pivotal edge of one of said doors and including ex tension means at both ends thereof extending a short distance from the extremities of said pivotal edge and attaching means for rigidly positioning said rod with respect to said one door;

(b) said slots being dimensioned and positioned so as to allow said extension means to slide and pivot therein;

(c) support mechanisms attached to each of said doors and said cabinet, each including a plurality of pivotally interconnected links wherein one of said links is pivotally connected at one end to a rear portion of said cabinet, the ends of other of said links have connecting means which are able to pivot about said rod, and wherein at least one of said connecting means is able to translate along said rod; and

(d) sliding means for each of said doors comprised of a material having a low coeflicient of friction and disposed between a portion of said cabinet and each of said doors so as to allow said doors to easily slide relative to said cabinet.

2. A cabinet apparatus as in claim 1 wherein:

(a) said plurality of walls include two parallel side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall parallel to said top walls;

(b) said slots are located in said top and bottom walls adjacent and substantially parallel to said side walls;

(c) said plurality of doors includes two doors each having its length substantially equal to the one half the width of said cabinet so that said doors form a front surface extending substantially the entire width of said cabinet when said doors are positioned so as to be co-planar and substantially in end abutting relationship;

((1) and said support mechanism for each of said doors is substantially parallel to said side walls, and the configuration of each of said support mechanism is such that the collapsed length of said support mechanism plus the length of said door connected thereto is no greater than the depth of said cabinet.

3. A slide-in door mechanism for use in a cabinet of a depth which includes top, bottom and two side wall members, wherein means included within said top and bottom wall members define two pairs of depthwise extending parallel slots, each pair of slots located adjacent said side wall members and wherein said wall members define a front opening of a given length and height comprising:

(a) two substantially planar doors having said given length;

(b) two rod-like members of slightly greater length than said given height;

(c) attaching means for rigidly attaching each of said rods in a vertical position to one of said doors adjacent an edge thereof so that a portion of each of said rods extends above and below each of said doors so as to be disposed within said slots and engage said top and bottom wall members;

(d) sliding means of a material having a low coefficient of friction disposed adjacent each of said slots in said bottom wall member and between said doors and said bottom wall member so that said doors may slide upon said sliding means;

(e) stabilizing means comprised of two sets of pivotally connected links, each set connected at at least two points to a respective rod member and at at least one point to a rear portion of said cabinet, said stabilizing means being collapsible to a length such that the collapsed length of said stabilizing means plus the length of one of said doors is less than the depth of said cabinet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 632,607 9/ 1899 Wernicke 312-331 X 899,049 9/1908 Honor 312- 2,618,682 11/1952 Thumin 312331 X 2,936,206 5/ 1960 Wilmer et a1 312322 3 178,248 4/ 1965 Bridwell 312-3 31 3,330,613 7/1967 Barth 312-331 3,339,995 9/ 1967 Bencene 312322 JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

